CHAPTER 368

An Act to amend and reenact § 28-170 of the Code of Virginia, as to
licenses to take crabs; amount of tax; restrictions on provilege. |
H 395]

Approved April 2, 1954
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:

te anat § 28-170 of the Code of Virginia, be amended and reenacted as
ollows:

§ 28-170. Licenses to take crabs; amount of tax; restrictions on
privilege.—Any resident of this State desiring to take or catch crabs for
market or profit from the waters of this Commonwealth, or waters under
its jurisdiction, by any of the means hereinafter stated, ., or any person
desiring to engage in the business of buying or marketing crabs for picking
or canning the same in any way, shall pay to the oyster inspector of the
district in which he resides the taxes and be subject to the provisions set
forth in the other sections,of this article and the following subsections:

(1) For each person taking or catching soft crabs, otherwise than
by dip nets or hard crabs, or peelers, with net, ordinary trot line, hand
rake, or hand scrape, pushed or pulled, or with any device other than
dip net or hand line, two dollars and fifty cents; provided that no boat
shall be used to pull or push any rake or scrape except as provided for
in subsections (4) and (5) of this section;

(2) For each person taking or catching crabs with patent trot line
ten dollars and fifty cents; provided, no steam or motor boat shall be
used in the taking or catching of soft crabs, and provided that it shall
be unlawful for any person to use ordinary trot lines, or patent trot lines,
for the taking or catching of crabs, in the waters of Moore’s Creek,
Jackson Creek, or Broad Creek in the county of Middlesex;

(3) For each person catching blue crabs by means of device made
of wire or thread net and commonly known as a crab pot, ten dollars
and fifty eents for each calendar year, for fifty such pots or any lesser
number; provided that no person shall employ more than fifty pots
nor secure more than one license, but any person holding a patent trot
line license may fish fifty pots without securing a pot license, or any
person holding a pot license may fish patent trot lines without securing
a patent trot line license. No such pot or device shall be used which is
made of wire or thread of a size less than one and one-half inches;

(4) For each sail boat to be used for the purpose of taking or catch-
ing hard crabs with scrapes or tongs and for each power boat under
thirty-two feet in length used for the purpose of taking or catching hard
crabs with scrapes or tongs, five dollars and fifty cents;

(5) For each power boat over thirty-two feet in length used for the
purpose of taking or catching hard crabs with scrapes or dredges, twenty-
six dollars;

(6) For each picking or crating house, eleven dollars;

(7) For each canning and packing house, twenty-six dollars;

(8) For each boat used in buying crabs, or for each person or firm
engaged in marketing hard crabs by barrel or crate, five dollars and
fifty cents; but no person who is licensed to catch crabs shall be required
to procure further license for marketing or shipping his own catch,
and any person who has procured a license * under subsection * six
hereof shall have the privilege of using the license for the purpose of
taking hard crabs with patent trot lines or with any other device allowed
to be used under this section for the remainder of the season in which
the license was issued during the season not prohibited by law.

(9) For each trap used for taking crabs or peelers one dollar and
fifty cents.

(10) For scraping crabs with a hand scrape five dollars and fifty
cents.